Public relations theorists investigating organizational crisis communication have suggested discourse of renewal theory (DRT) as an alternative to more standard apologia tactics. DRT advises organizations in crisis to give the chief executive officer a prominent communication role (rather than other organization personnel or outside consultants). DRT also advises forward-looking communication tactics highlighting potential for organizational growth, improved operations and necessary change. The experiment reported here is the first-known experimental investigation of DRT-based crisis responses. A non-random sample of 114 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of four crisis response treatments: CEO-attributed DRT responses, CEO–attributed organizational bolstering responses, non-CEO attributed DRT responses and non-CEO organizational bolstering responses. Contrary to DRT-derived hypotheses, CEO-attributed responses did not generate significantly higher mean attitude toward the organization, message credibility or organizational credibility when compared to non-CEO attributed responses. Similarly, DRT responses did not outperform more standard bolstering apologia tactics.